Forced Kindness
by BlackBeauty613
Summary: Rewritten last chapter of the book Swindle. Oneshot. Made for an English project.


**WARNING: SPOILER ALERT FOR THE BOOK!!!**

**Okay, for my regular readers, I know very well that this is sooo much different from what I've previously done (HSM, Twilight) but I had to do this for a project in my English project to a book I read and I just decided to put it up here. Even though it might not get any reviews (or hits, for that matter) it kept eating away at me for a while now, so...yeah. Just read it.**

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"Bing!"

Griffin abruptly spun around as his name was announced during recess, curious as to who owned the voice that leaked anger. His curiosity automatically faded to annoyance when he viewed Darren stomping towards him, arms crossed and eyes contorted into a furious, yet defeated, glare. What did that little backstabbing parasite want now?

"What do you want, Darren?" Griffin sighed flatly, folding his arms over his chest as well.

Darren didn't answer right away. He just stood there, frozen to the ground like a stone and continued eying Griffin with a few mixed emotions that Griffin could point out: anger, defeat, impatience...jealousy?

Darren looked away from him after a minute, moving his unhappy gaze to the ground beside him and held out a hesitant hand. "Here..." he grumbled.

Griffin looked down at the cubby arm and his brows furrowed. "What's this?"

"Just take it!" Darren hissed, pained. The loud snap of his teeth snapping together could be heard throughout the playground.

Griffin's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but he extended his hand slowly as if he expected the little fragile bag to explode the second he touched it. When he found that all chunks of his body were still attached in the correct places, he opened the bag and removed its contents: another bag, but this one was plastic. Clear. Clear enough for Griffin to see the colorful, double-sided item inside.

His eyes widened.

"Don't even say it." Darren growled, still looking away from Griffin in a possible attempt to hide his weak eyes.

"W-what do you want me to say?" Griffin stuttered, not being able to snag his eyes away from the protected card. Darren had been given this money-magnet by the real owner of the card, a little old woman named Winifred Rockford-Bates. Even though she didn't approve of Darren's methods to get the card back and his sleazy attempt to steal it from Griffin, she viewed it as only fair that it got handed down to him.

Darren replied with fire in his voice. "It's my punishment. When my parents didn't ground me or take any of my stuff, I knew that it would be something much worse than both combined. They're forcing me to give this back to you. Apparently, they're fighting fire with fire. So I never wanna hear about this again. That's all I'm asking from you, Bing. Don't remind me or tease me about it. I'm making a bigger sacrifice than you think."

Griffin raised an eyebrow. "They're forcing you to give up a million dollar card?"

"What did I just say?!"

Griffin suppressed a victorious smile. He couldn't believe this. Darren Vader, his enemy for as long as he could remember, was giving up?

_That_, he thought to himself, _or it's just a set-up_.

"What's in it for you?" Griffin accused, suspicious again.

Darren rolled his eyes with a heavy, aggravated sigh. "I just told you, idiot! Don't remind me of what I'm doing and we're even!"

Whoa, he was actually serious. _There's a first_...

"Can't you just tell your parents that you gave it to me and run?"

"Do you want the card or not, Bing?!" Darren's voice rose, his eyes widening to show to pure hostility radiating from them. His clenched fists started to tremble in rage.

Griffin snapped his hand from view, carefully stuffing the plastic bag in his jean pocket and, clearing his throat, replied "Yeah, I'll take it," A sly smile crossed his face. "This kind of opportunity only comes around once in a lifetime."

Darren ground his teeth together in an effort to keep from snapping. "Shut up or I'll take that card, rip it up, and make it look like it was an accident that _you_ made!"

"That a threat or a promise?"

Darren snarled at him warningly, upgrading his glare into a strong glower.

Griffin laughed, patting the pocket with the card safely hidden inside. "Calm down, Vader, I'll can it. But only because-"

"If you say 'Only because I'll be laughing all the way to the bank', I'll make sure you never get that far!"

Griffin stifled back another laugh.

Darren's beet-red face slowly started returning to its normal color again. "My parents will be calling yours after school to make sure that I gave it to you. Just thought you'd like to know that."

"...thanks." Griffin hesitantly answered.

Darren huffed, crossing his arms tightly again. "Well then I'm outta here. Have a nice life, Bing."

As Darren walked off in the opposite direction, Griffin couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him. This must have been tough on him, fighting so hard for something just to have it thrown away and given to your rival. For the first time, Griffin actually felt bad for him.

"Darren, wait!"

Darren stopped, but didn't turn around. He just stood there, focusing on breathing deeply to try and conceal his mixed emotions. "What?"

Griffin seemed to take the hint that Darren wasn't moving and started forward, stopping about five feet away from him. He muttered "We may be in sixth grade and we may hate each other's guts, but this is serious. I'm not gonna treat it like you took my box of crayons."

Darren spun around, his eyes lining with confusion. "Huh?"

Griffin sighed, taking the card out of his pocket. He held it up for everyone to see. "If this little piece of paper is having this big an effect on you, you've got to get something out of it, even if you don't deserve it."

"What are you saying?"

"This card could sell for a million, right?"

Darren nodded, biting back the nasty retort he had brewing in his head.

"Then if it does..." He took a deep breath. "You're getting half of it."

Every jaw in the crowd dropped to the ground and sharp intakes of breath could be heard from every direction. The surprise poured into the air at a rapid speed, freezing time for every student, including Griffin who was watching carefully for Darren's reaction.

Darren's mouth didn't fall, his eyes didn't pop out of their sockets, and his lungs didn't drag in a gasp. He just simply froze, standing there and blinking at Griffin like he was just punched in the face and waking up saying "What's going on?"

"Huh?" he repeated.

Griffin rolled his eyes "Unlike you, I'm actually mature about things like this. It's technically..._your_ card after all, so why shouldn't you get a cut of the profits?"

"Because it's yours now and you hate me." Darren challenged, trying to backfire the scheme that he imagined Griffin was planning. He wasn't called The Man With The Plan for nothing.

"Exactly. Which is why I'm deciding on how I'm gonna spend the money. Now, do you want the money or not?"

Darren stood there, frozen again and deliberating. Griffin had never liked him even remotely and had never given or shared anything with him willingly, unless it was an unpleasant conversation or some mean words. Now he was actually willing to give him nearly $500,000 after he put his blood, sweat, and tears into getting it?

"Did you hit your head on something?"

"Darren, be reasonable. Don't you know me at all?"

"Yes. I know you well enough to know that you're not going to give all that money up to me after I stole it from you. Get real, Bing."  
"I am. You're the one who won't empty all the air out of his fat head and listen to me when I say that I'm not 100% evil."

"Because you are!"

"Do you really want to fight when I'm offering you $500,000? I'll even tell my parents and they'll talk it over with yours. If I'm lying, I give you rights to beat me senseless until we never have to see each other again. Deal?"

_He's finally lost it_, Darren thought to himself in disbelief, standing there limply and light-headed. He could feel the information sinking into his brain with immense pressure, trying to make him comprehend what was being said. It was almost too much, he tried to convince himself. Too much money that would probably go to college anyway.

When the offer finally sunk in, he barely whispered "You're not kidding, are you?" It wasn't much of a question as it was a statement, confirming what was being thrown at him.

Griffin shrugged "Does this kind of money sound like a joke? I'm being serious, Darren. I'm not as heartless as you might think. So what do you say?" He held out his hand and placed the card back into his pocket. "Do we have a deal or not?"

Darren stared at the hand and took a deep breath, switching his eyes from Griffin's hand to his eyes, searching for any traces of lying or pranking. When he found none, he extended his arm as well and slowly shook Griffin's. "Deal."

The Man With The Plan smiled.

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**So how'd I do? Remember, it was just for an English project :)**

**REVIEW!!! Thnx :)**

**~Rachel :)**


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